


Spin, Spider, Spin

by thereyoflight



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Crush, Crushes, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, MJ as Spinneret, New York City, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Rivalry, Slow Burn, Superheroes, Team Up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-09-22 23:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20330509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereyoflight/pseuds/thereyoflight
Summary: Peter Parker and Michelle Jones have a crush on each other, but behind their masks of Spider-Man and Spinneret, they are sworn enemies. Peter and MJ must look beyond their rivalry to face off a new evil threatening their city -- and face a just as threatening truth between them: there's a thin line between love and hate, and they're spinning around each other on it.(TEMPORARILY ON HOLD)





	1. Chapter 1

Peter Parker awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. His police alert system, he soon realized as his senses kicked in, jolting him awake. Peter instinctively reached a hand out as his webs flew and suddenly, his phone was in his hand. 

What he saw surprised him. “No way!” Peter stumbled out of bed, grabbing his suit from where it lay sprawled against his desk chair. He tugged it on impatiently, nearly tripping in the process, but he got it on nonetheless. Visuals appeared over his vision as his lenses turned on. 

“Okay, Karen,” Peter said, greeting his AI in his suit, “let’s save some people.”

“You got it,” Karen replied.

Peter scribbled a mini note for May. He knew she’d come in later asking what he wanted for breakfast, as she always did on late Saturday mornings. She might as well know he’d be out on superhero business.

Peter opened his bedroom window and jumped out of it, immediately extending his hand and letting his webs swing him forward from building to building. He grinned from the inside of his suit as he felt the breeze of the familiar New York City air around him. It didn’t matter how long he’d been Spider-Man. The feeling of swinging around the city never got old. 

The screams of civilians sounded closer and Peter could see a green blur atop a building. “Why are they always green?” he muttered to himself as he swung toward the chaos. 

Just months before Peter was faced with Vulture, whose mask had green glowing eyes. That wasn’t the worst of it as Vulture turned out to be his crush’s father. Who threatened to kill him and everyone he loved. Who then tried to murder him. Peter was sure all of it was just a messed up coincidence, considering that Vulture’s defeat resulted in his crush moving away. 

That didn’t matter anymore, though. Liz had been kind and nice, but Peter had a crush on someone else... Liz was a mere memory now.

Peter landed on the building and was faced with a man in a green suit that resembled a scorpion. The man turned on him, his face obscured by a mask of green showing only his nostrils and mouth, his eyes covered in orange-red lenses. “Hey!” Peter said. “You’re not the Hulk!”

Not funny, he knew, but it worked as the man advanced on him. “Spider-Man,” he sneered and Peter’s insides churned at the recognition. The hair on Peter’s neck stood up and he dodged as the scorpion tail shot at him, barely missing him and scraping at the cement of the building. 

“Not cool!” Peter yelled as he shot webs at him, trapping his arms in it. Peter ran forward, delivering hits where he could as he attempted to get the villain down. The man yelled in anger and before Peter could do anything, the scorpion tail was swinging at him. Peter’s breath was knocked out of him as he flew backward with the impact, landing on the roof of the building across.

Peter rolled and got up, groaning in pain. Adrenaline shot through him as Scorpion landed on the building. Peter ducked behind the exit door on the roof as the tail shot at him again. He peeked from the top of it as he fired more of his webs at Scorpion. He jumped on top of the exit door and ran forward. He jumped and hurtled down at Scorpion and delivered a punch to his jaw, sending a piece of his mask flying off. 

Then a hand was encircled around Peter’s neck and he was slammed back into the wall of the exit door. Peter’s hands came up to Scorpion’s and he mustered all the strength he could to get them off. Peter saw Scorpion’s sickening smile as his tail raised behind him, ready for a final strike.

Suddenly, a foot connected with Scorpion’s face and sent him stumbling. Peter fell to the ground, gasping and coughing. He watched in awe as someone else joined the fight: a girl with dark brown curly hair tied in a ponytail behind her, leaving parts of her shorter hair to obscure her forehead. Her suit was almost an exact replica of Peter’s with the same red, except hers was white where his was blue. Her mask was two simple white lenses over her eyes lined in red. 

“Oh, come on! Not you again!” Peter yelled in frustration.

The girl went by Spinneret and she had quite a long history of finishing fights Peter started or stealing Peter’s fights altogether. They had quite a rivalry because of it, though Peter never quite met her formally. She always swung in, did the job _meant for Peter_, and disappeared before anyone could get a good look or shot of her. 

Peter watched as she swung along the two buildings and webbed up Scorpion like a burrito. She finished him off by swinging at him head-on, kicking him off the building. She landed on the building opposite to Peter, quickly sending webs at Scorpion that left him pinned to the side of the building. 

She looked up at him and smirked as she crouched on the ledge. He’d never seen her this up close, but that hair and that smile... Recognition shot through him. “MJ?” he questioned incredulously.

“Hey there, Spider,” she said. Two webs connected on each side of Peter and the last thing he saw was MJ hurtling towards him before her knee connected with his face. 


	2. Chapter 2

Peter crumpled to the ground in front of MJ, unconscious. There was the sound of ripping and an angry yell behind her. MJ whirled and her eyes darted to where she’d webbed up Scorpion only to find it empty with nothing left but torn webs. MJ swore and ran to the cornered edge of the building, searching and listening for any sign of him, but there was nothing. There was only the normal bustle of the city. 

MJ turned to look at Peter on the ground, unamused. She sighed, walking over to him. She leaned down and picked his body up effortlessly and hauled him over her shoulder. With that, MJ jumped off the building as her webs flew. 

MJ’s shoulder was growing heavy with Peter’s weight when she arrived at the fire escape balcony of her bedroom window. It was still open from her racing out of it earlier to join in on the fun of Peter facing Scorpion. She ducked through the window and hissed when she accidentally hit Peter’s head against the windowsill. She’d be lucky if the poor boy didn’t get a concussion. 

MJ tossed Peter’s weight into her green desk chair. His body immediately started to fall off the seat and she had to quickly catch him and keep him upright. She pulled the chair back toward the window and Peter’s torso fell over her. “Ugh, no!” She muttered as she put her hands on his chest and forced him back. She had to web him up to the chair to keep him in place, and she used the opportunity to web him up even further to make sure he wouldn’t attack her once he awoke.

MJ sighed as she took a seat on the windowsill, feeling the warmth of the New York City air breezing into her bedroom, and watched as Peter’s chest slowly rose and fell with each breath he took. She reached out, took hold of his mask, and pulled it off. Despite herself, MJ sucked in a breath at the sight of Peter’s face. She was startled not by the fact that he was, in fact, Spider-Man (she’d wondered for weeks), but by the fact that her chest still fluttered nervously at the sight of him. 

That didn’t matter now, though. MJ knew the truth now. He was Spider-Man, and they were rivals. Nothing would happen between them, let alone Peter liking her. She had always had eyes for him, seeing him when he thought no one else was looking his way. She always knew a million thoughts were racing through his mind at all times just from those little moments and glances, and she always wondered what she would find beyond that mask of his. She didn’t necessarily think there actually _ was _ a mask, of course, until she started suspected him weeks before.

Now, the entire thing felt like a cruel joke on her. The one boy she had always had a crush on, the only boy she had ever wanted, was her sworn enemy. The universe truly had something against her.

MJ found herself studying him with his head tilted toward his right shoulder. His hair was tousled, but it looked perfect to her. It was an odd image to see him like this: Peter Parker, in her bedroom, webbed up to a chair. It wasn’t exactly how she thought things would go down if she ever found him in her bedroom. 

MJ inched to reach for her sketchbook and gave into the desire. She grabbed it from the top of her dresser and sketched a quick image of Peter. She knew she was running on borrowed time and Peter would wake up any second, but she wanted to get down what she could. When she finished the quick drawing, Peter still hadn’t woken up. She took the opportunity to study him even further and add all the details she could about him. 

Peter stirred suddenly and MJ tossed her sketchbook to the side in alarm. Peter blinked several times for a moment, adjusting to the light and the new environment he found himself in. Peter looked up at MJ then and shock crossed over his features. 

“MJ, what-“ Peter began as he looked down at himself webbed to the seat. He pulled at the webs, but it didn’t budge. He pulled more forcefully and MJ saw webs breaking underneath his superhuman strength. MJ jumped into action. 

MJ shot a web at the chair and pulled. The chair leaned forward on its front legs. Peter yelped as he fell, but MJ caught the end of the chair with her hand. She leaned into his face with eyes of steel. 

“You listen very carefully, Parker,” she said. “You’ve been an awful liar and an even worse rival. Do me a favor and stay out of my way.”

“Your way?” Peter asked. He scoffed. “You’re the one stealing all my jobs! And today, to top it all off, you took down the new guy! From me!”

“I actually didn’t,” MJ said. “He got away but-“

“_He got away?_”

“That doesn’t matter!” MJ yelled. “Just stay out of my way!”

“Can’t really do that when you’re always getting in mine!” Peter yelled back. He looked at her and her suit as if just registering the state MJ was in. “How did you even get your powers anyway?”

MJ let the chair wobble back and she favored the look on Peter’s face when he thought it would fall back. “When you did.”

“When I did? Like the field trip to Oscorp?” Peter asked. His brows furrowed. “How would that be possible? I’m the only one that got bit by a spider --_ oh. _”

“Yeah, _ oh, _” MJ mocked. “Whatever that means.”

It had been a little over a year since MJ developed her powers. She’d gotten bit by a spider during their field trip to Oscorp, though she hadn’t known exactly how the spider ended up on her in the first place. She hadn’t been near any as far as she knew. 

“You got bit by a spider too?” He asked. MJ only nodded. “I thought I killed them all.”

“Killed them all?” MJ asked. 

Peter looked up at her confused face. “Well, at Oscorp, I ended up in a room I wasn’t supposed to be in. You know, I was just curious because come on, it’s Oscorp. That place is incredible and the source of so many scientific discoveries-“

“Get to the point, Parker,” MJ snapped.

“Right,” Peter said. “So I ended up in a room I wasn’t supposed to be in and it looked like some lab. I accidentally knocked over some glass cage and then all these spiders were running everywhere with these red numbers on them. I panicked and just killed all of them. One of them managed to crawl on me and it bit me.”

“And that’s how you got your powers,” MJ noted. “And that’s why I got mine.” Peter looked at her in question. “I bumped into you after you ran out of the room in a panic. Another spider must’ve been on you because I got bitten right after that.” 

_ MJ walked along the Oscorp corridor, examining everything she could about the legendary place. Perhaps it was the artist in her attempting to capture every detail if she ever wanted to sketch anything about the place later on. MJ was a decent distance away from the rest of her classmates, enough to hear what the tour guide was saying and as to not get in trouble for being too far back. MJ liked to cherish art in her own time, and the building felt like an art piece of its own. She felt like jumping from one part of it to the next so quickly would only be doing it a disservice. _

_ MJ heard fast-paced footsteps behind her. In her confusion and curiosity, MJ turned her head to look back at what was causing the noise. That’s when Peter rammed into her, hard and in a panic. MJ gasped as Peter’s body splayed over her with his loss of balance, and she stumbled. In an instant, MJ felt Peter’s hands take hold of her firmly and keep her upright. She hadn’t had time to register who it was until she looked up and saw Peter. _

_ Her shock hid the embarrassment and nervousness that rushed through her. “Peter?” _

_ Peter was panting and his face was pale. Something had spooked him, she could tell. He fell into step beside her, whispered an apology, and looked back in alarm. He turned his attention to the direction they were walking and scanned the environment with fearful eyes. When he didn’t seem to spot what he was looking for, he closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to steady his breathing. _

_ MJ had never seen Peter this way. She knew whatever had happened must’ve been serious, but she was too afraid to ask. “Peter, are you okay?” she asked. _

_ Peter nodded and licked his lips. “Mm-hm, yeah,” he replied. He blinked then and looked at her in confusion. “Why are you walking behind everyone?” _

_ “Why are you running away from something?” she asked playfully, her eyes narrowing. Peter’s face paled and his eyes widened. He began stuttering an excuse. “Jeez, Parker, I’m only messing with you. What’s gotten into you?” _

_ Peter only shut his eyes and shook his head. “Nothing.” _

_ MJ felt a sting on her arm. She hissed and brought her arm up to see a spider on her arm from beneath the sleeve of her black cardigan. Strangely, she noticed a red number on its back. She slapped her arm and killed the spider. _

_ Peter asked, “You okay?” _

_ “Yeah,” MJ replied. She shook her hand and the spider fell to the floor, dead, but leaving behind something much more living within MJ’s body. _

Realization started to dawn on Peter’s face. “Oh, my god,” he said. 

“Yeah,” MJ said. 

“And your suit?” Peter asked as he examined it once again. The suit fit her like a glove and seeing his eyes snake down her body in admiration of the suit sent chills down her spine. It felt intimate to be so seen by him, a boy who had barely given her a second glance in all the years they’d known each other. “Where’d you get it?”

Peter’s eyes found hers again, and MJ took a deep breath. She pushed the thoughts away as she tore her eyes from his, looking out her window into the brightness of the day. Her eyes squinted at the light. “Tony Stark.”

“Ton-- Excuse me, _ Tony Stark _?” Peter asked in disbelief.

MJ returned her gaze to his. “Why do you think it’s so identical to yours? It’s pretty much modeled after yours.”

“H-How? How did this all happen?” Peter questioned.

“Well, he recruited you when you were fifteen. He found me the same time he found you, and he saw my talents matched yours,” MJ explained. “He made me a suit because he was sure I would agree to go to Germany. But I didn’t, much to his surprise.”

“Why didn’t you?” Peter asked.

“I had homework,” MJ said. A lie, somewhat, but the true reason was a conversation for another time. “And I had my own responsibilities.”

“Oh, come on, there’s got to be a better reason than that,” Peter argued. “It’s Tony freaking Stark.”

Suddenly, within their suits, there was the sound of their police alert system going off. Within an hour, Scorpion had attacked again. A bold move for a newbie villain, but a threatening one nonetheless. MJ had barely glanced at Peter when he tore through the webs in an instant, determination burning in his eyes. MJ lunged to restrain him, but Peter dodged her attack. MJ stumbled and turned, ready for a fight when Peter shot a web.

MJ looked down to see a circular object, a gadget of sorts, webbed to her chest. It was blinking blue, like a timer on a bomb. Realization and fury coursed through her. “You little shi-!” she began, but her sentence was cut short by the impact of the web-bomb throwing her back. MJ landed hard on her back, knocking the breath out of her. She tried to pull herself up but found herself restrained by strong webs to the ground.

“This is mine! Stay out of it!” Peter yelled before he launched out the window.

_Poor guy,_ MJ thought. _He has no idea what he’s in for now. It’s on, Parker._

MJ struggled against the webbed restrains, gritting her teeth with the effort of getting them off. Some webs broke against her force, but it was nothing near what she needed to break free. She fell back against the ground, breathing heavily. It only took a fleeting reminder of Peter’s face for her to pull against it even harder. MJ yelled as she finally tore through them. She took a moment to catch her breath before she was soaring out the window, traveling closer and closer to her destination.

MJ had listened intently for the information she needed from the police alert system. Now, it was only a matter of getting there and beating the hell out of Peter Parker.

MJ had arrived faster than she’d anticipated, especially since the mall the scene was happening at was across the city from where she had been. MJ landed on the roof of the mall and began her sprint across the rooftop. A shattered glass ceiling welcomed her entrance as she zipped into the mall and swung through the chaotic space filled with dozens of people attempting to escape. 

“Back so soon?” MJ heard another voice say in the distance, a voice she recognized as Scorpion's.

“You’ll find it rather difficult to get rid of me,” Peter’s unmistakable voice replied.

“We’ll see about that.” 

After Scorpion’s words, there was only the sound of destruction. MJ followed the sound until she noticed movement below her. MJ could see a green figure and a red and blue blur three floors below her, and she knew she found what she was looking for. MJ saw as Scorpion swung his tail, low and wildly, at Peter. Peter jumped over the low swing with ease and rolled, getting back on his feet and facing Scorpion again just seconds later.

The sight of Peter’s suit awakened a wave of fiery white-hot anger in her chest, and MJ let herself fall. Peter sprang forward for another attack when MJ shot a web. MJ held, letting the web swing her forward, and let go. Her foot rammed, yet again, to Peter’s head. MJ watched in satisfaction as Peter was jolted back by the impact and he hit the ground hard. MJ, on the other hand, landed behind him and rolled, before returning to face him in a low crouch. 

And the familiar smirk, of course. 

Peter glanced up at her as he struggled to his feet, dazed and dizzy from another blow to his head. As satisfied as she was imagining his shocked expression behind his mask, MJ wasn’t done and she was nowhere near happy. MJ didn’t spare a second. 

MJ swung a fist at him and Peter dodged, missing its contact by mere inches. She swung again and Peter intercepted the hit by stopping it with his hand. MJ yelled in frustration and slammed her knee into his stomach. Peter gasped and doubled over, clutching his stomach, and MJ seized her chance. MJ took hold of his shoulders as she swung through the air over him, like a cartwheel, and hauled him across the room. Peter slammed into the wall across from her, leaving cracks in the cement from his impact, and fell to the ground.

“You trapped me in my room,” she said angrily as she approached him.

“No hard feelings,” Peter said, standing to his feet. “It was just a safety precaution.”

“A selfish safety precaution!” MJ shot back.

“I could say the same thing about your escape,” Peter said.

Peter shot two webs past her and used them to kick her back at an alarming speed. MJ grunted at the impact and found herself rolling through the rubble. MJ’s head spun and she clawed at the ground to reorient herself with where the floor and ceiling were. MJ pushed herself to her feet despite the pain in her head and faced Peter.

“MJ.” His voice was gentle, calm. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Well, I want to hurt you!” 

MJ shot a web at his face, blocking his vision. Peter grasped it and ripped it off. Just as he did so, MJ punched him in the face. She spun and swung her leg high to hit him across the face again. Peter took hold of her leg, shot a web at her other one, and pulled. MJ grunted as her legs came out from under her and she hit the ground. She kicked at his leg and Peter fell over her. She pushed him to the side and found herself above him, her fist raised behind her. 

There was the loud sound of screaming and destruction that tore their attention away from each other. They saw that Scorpion had torn apart more of the building during their fight. Peter and MJ watched in horror as people that attempted to run were launched into the air by Scorpion’s swinging tail. They saw as another person attempted to escape, and Scorpion saw his chance. 

“No!” Peter and MJ screamed in unison as Scorpion’s pointed talon moved to strike. The tail’s range of motion was cut short by two webs that connected to it and held firmly. Peter and MJ looked at each other momentarily with their hands raised and webs connected. Scorpion smiled at them before pulling his tail back fiercely. Peter and MJ shrieked as they were hauled into the air and over the villain. 

MJ found herself falling towards the third-floor bridge across the floor, and she crashed through the glass railing. MJ shrieked as glass rained around her. Her body tumbled past the other side, breaking another set of glass that fell around her. MJ managed to claw at the edge with her hand and held her weight for a fleeting moment before she was falling again. Her side slammed into the second-floor railing, shattering more glass and leaving her to tumble through the air again. MJ landed on her other side and her vision went dark for a moment. MJ knew she hadn’t passed out because she could still feel the pain of the cuts that had managed to pierce her suit and face and the pain that was growing in both her sides. MJ groaned in pain as she struggled to her feet, eyes frantic to spot Peter.

MJ resented the worry that fear that seized her when she didn’t spot Peter. She was sure she wanted to kill the idiot just moments before, and now she was worried about him. She hated how quickly her feelings changed toward him. 

Relief soared through her when she spotted the familiar suit rising from the ground a couple of feet away. MJ looked around the destroyed mall but found no sign of Scorpion. People seemed calmer at the quietness that encompassed the mall. MJ could see their curious eyes scanning the environment in case Scorpion reappeared, but when no such thing occurred, the crowd shifted their attention to Peter and MJ. Words were spilling from their lips, angry and confused words from innocent people MJ knew she and Peter had failed over their unnecessary fight. Suddenly realizing what she’d allowed to happen against her better judgment, MJ found her throat burning with the force of pushing back her tears. 

The people were closing in on them and MJ hadn’t realized Peter was beside her until he pressed closer to her. MJ was overwhelmed. People were filming, screaming in anger, and probably worst of all, there was crying. All innocent people she’d failed. MJ couldn’t breathe.

MJ shot a web and allowed herself to become airborne. “Hey, wait!” she heard Peter yell after her, but MJ ignored him.

Tears filled her eyes and MJ blinked them away as she swung away from everything she’d let happen. After a while, MJ let herself stop on a building rooftop. She glanced around to be sure no one was around and pulled her eye masks off. She wiped quickly at the tears that had escaped her eyes and took a deep breath. A noise sounded from behind her and it was only a slight tilt of her head to the side that let her know Peter had followed her.

“MJ--” Peter began, and MJ turned to face him. 

MJ was surprised to see him maskless, clutching his mask in his hand. Peter was looking at her with disappointment, the same look she knew her expressions held. It wasn’t disappointment in each other; it was a disappointment in themselves. 

“We can’t ever let that happen again,” MJ said. “He almost… _killed_ someone because of us. Someone could’ve _died_ today because of us.”

MJ couldn’t bear the thought of all the things that could’ve happened, and she chastised herself for being so stubborn. MJ never let emotion get in the way of her thinking. She thought through every situation before she let her emotions get the best of her. She knew that she knew better. She knew she was smart, and she knew terrible outcomes could be prevented if people just stopped and thought about their actions before doing them.

But it was Peter Parker, so it was no surprise to her as to why she reacted the way she did. He would always be able to get some reaction out of her whether it was an external or internal one. She always responded to him one way or another. This response nearly cost them their lives. 

“I know,” was all Peter said.

“We have to stop him,” MJ said. “And we’ll have to do it together.”

Peter scoffed and looked away from her. “That’s not going to work.”

MJ clenched her fists in irritation. _There it is,_ MJ thought. _This is just as much his fault as it is mine._ Even though she had initiated the fight, Peter could’ve done something to stop it or reason with her. He had chosen not to and fought back instead, adding flame to the fire.

“We’ll have to make it work,” MJ shot. “We’re no good if we’re fighting. Don’t you see that now?”

Peter looked back at her and blinked. “So, what? We team up?”

Even after what had happened, MJ could still feel the competitive tension between them. It was a rivalry that had gone on for months, one that would be difficult to tear down and rebuild into any semblance of a friendship. But if it was for the sake of their city, MJ knew she and Peter would do whatever it took to save everyone they could, even if it meant dealing with each other.

“You have any better options, Parker?”

“Nothing tolerable, Jones, I’m afraid,” Peter replied, kicking at the ground beneath his feet. 

“Oh, come on!” MJ yelled in annoyance. 

“Okay, so we’re both not happy about this, but this isn’t about us! It never has been, but all we’ve done this entire time is make it about us,” Peter said in frustration. He took a deep breath and sighed, calming down. “We saw where that got us.”

MJ nodded. “At least we can agree on one thing.”

“So, we’re teaming up then?”

“What other choice do we have to defeat him?” MJ asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “He almost killed you today, and he escaped me. It’s what we’ll have to do.”

“Well, I’m sure we can learn a lot from each other,” Peter said.

In an attempt to defuse some of the tension, MJ looked him up and down and smiled. “I don’t think so, but maybe you can learn something from me,” she teased playfully.

“Fair enough,” Peter said. He held out his hand with a smile. “I’ll take what I can get.”

MJ glanced down at his hand for a moment before returning her gaze to his eyes. She grasped his hand, ignored the electricity that shot through her at the contact, and shook. “It appears we have a deal, Parker.”

“Appears so, Jones.”


End file.
